So Where Does Bar Mitzvah Come From (Putting God On the Guest List pg 14)
To find the origins of bar mitzvah, let'sgo back in Jewish history to the rabbinic period.
Right after the Jewish people returned from exile in Babylonia in the fifth century B.C.E, Jewish sages began to interpret the Torah and find new meaning in its words. Over the centuries, their interpretations of the Torah (the written law) formed the basis of Judaism's oral law. Those interpretations of Torah-- and the further interpretations over the centuries of those interpretations--created the Judaism that we know today.
The earliest code of Jewish law is the Mishnah, which was compiled about the year 200 C.E. One of the most important sections of the Mishnah is called Pirke Avot, "the chapters of the fathers."Pirke Avot is a collection of sayings that illustrate how the ancient sages saw the world and how they interpreted the responsibilities of being a Jew.
The real "inventor" of bar mitzvah was the second-century C.E sage Judah ben Tema. In Pirke Avot, Judah imagined a timeline of Jewish life:
At five, one should study Scripture;
At ten, one should study Mishnah;
At thirteen, one is ready to do mitzvot;
At fifteen, one is ready to study Talmud [the commentary on the Mishnah];
At eighteen, one is ready to get married;
At twenty, one is responsible for providing a family.
-Mishnah Avot 5:24
To find the origins of bar mitzvah, let'sgo back in Jewish history to the rabbinic period.
Right after the Jewish people returned from exile in Babylonia in the fifth century B.C.E, Jewish sages began to interpret the Torah and find new meaning in its words. Over the centuries, their interpretations of the Torah (the written law) formed the basis of Judaism's oral law. Those interpretations of Torah-- and the further interpretations over the centuries of those interpretations--created the Judaism that we know today.
The earliest code of Jewish law is the Mishnah, which was compiled about the year 200 C.E. One of the most important sections of the Mishnah is called Pirke Avot, "the chapters of the fathers."Pirke Avot is a collection of sayings that illustrate how the ancient sages saw the world and how they interpreted the responsibilities of being a Jew.
The real "inventor" of bar mitzvah was the second-century C.E sage Judah ben Tema. In Pirke Avot, Judah imagined a timeline of Jewish life:
At five, one should study Scripture;
At ten, one should study Mishnah;
At thirteen, one is ready to do mitzvot;
At fifteen, one is ready to study Talmud [the commentary on the Mishnah];
At eighteen, one is ready to get married;
At twenty, one is responsible for providing a family.
-Mishnah Avot 5:24
1) How would you modernize Judah ben Tema's timeline for Jews?
2) Why is he considered the "inventor" of the Bar Mitzvah?
3) What is Judah ben Tema's definition of Bar Mitzvah? How is it different from yours?
Putting God on the Guest List (pg 15-16 Midrashic Origins of Bar Mitzvah- shortened version)
...The real origins of bar mitzvah come from midrash, the name of the kind of story that the ancient rabbis told about the characters in the Bible.
What do the midrashim say about the significance of the age of thirteen?
Consider one of the most famous Jewish stories in all our sacred literature. Abraham's father, Terach, is in the idol business in Ur, a city in ancient Sumer. He goes away on business and leaves his young son Abram in charge of the idol shop. Abram, who is later called Abraham, shatters all the idonts in the store with a stick, then places the stick in the hand of the largest idol. When Terach gets back, he sees the ruined merchandise. "What happened?" he demands.
"Oh Father it was terrible," says Abram. "The small idols got hungry and started fighting for food. Then the large idol got angry and broke the smaller ones into little pieces. It was frightening. I don't want to talk about it."
"Wait a second, " says Terach. "Idonls don't get hungry. They don't get angry. They don't speak. They're just.... they're just clay idols."
"So", Abram asks with a smile, "why do you worship them?"
Why does Abram do this? Because he wants to make a bold statement that idols are worthless. Just as Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and Edison invented the light bulb, Abram "invents" monotheism: the idea that there is only one true God.
Abram was thirteen when he smashed those idols. Thirteen, in fact, is a very good age for idol-smashing. It's when young people begin to develop independent thinking. Idols are more than gods of wood and stone. An idol is anything that is NOT God that we worship as if it were God. These might be material things, like cars or steresos, or they might be popularity or perfect test scores.You can start smashing your own idols when you reach thirteen.
Another midrash says that, at the age of thirteen, Jacob and Esau, who were twins, went their separate ways: Jacob to the worship of God, and Esau to idolatry. Each followed his true nature and inclinations. God wants us to do the right thing. But God cannot make us do the right thing. Only we can make ourselves do the right thing. And bar and bat mitzvah is the age to start doing that.
According to another midrash, Miriam was thirteen years old when she arranged for her infant brother Moses to be adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, thus ensuring his survival and the survival of the Jewish people.
Finally, the Talmud says that Bezalel was thirteen when he designed the ancient tabernacle for worship in the wilderness.
...The real origins of bar mitzvah come from midrash, the name of the kind of story that the ancient rabbis told about the characters in the Bible.
What do the midrashim say about the significance of the age of thirteen?
Consider one of the most famous Jewish stories in all our sacred literature. Abraham's father, Terach, is in the idol business in Ur, a city in ancient Sumer. He goes away on business and leaves his young son Abram in charge of the idol shop. Abram, who is later called Abraham, shatters all the idonts in the store with a stick, then places the stick in the hand of the largest idol. When Terach gets back, he sees the ruined merchandise. "What happened?" he demands.
"Oh Father it was terrible," says Abram. "The small idols got hungry and started fighting for food. Then the large idol got angry and broke the smaller ones into little pieces. It was frightening. I don't want to talk about it."
"Wait a second, " says Terach. "Idonls don't get hungry. They don't get angry. They don't speak. They're just.... they're just clay idols."
"So", Abram asks with a smile, "why do you worship them?"
Why does Abram do this? Because he wants to make a bold statement that idols are worthless. Just as Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and Edison invented the light bulb, Abram "invents" monotheism: the idea that there is only one true God.
Abram was thirteen when he smashed those idols. Thirteen, in fact, is a very good age for idol-smashing. It's when young people begin to develop independent thinking. Idols are more than gods of wood and stone. An idol is anything that is NOT God that we worship as if it were God. These might be material things, like cars or steresos, or they might be popularity or perfect test scores.You can start smashing your own idols when you reach thirteen.
Another midrash says that, at the age of thirteen, Jacob and Esau, who were twins, went their separate ways: Jacob to the worship of God, and Esau to idolatry. Each followed his true nature and inclinations. God wants us to do the right thing. But God cannot make us do the right thing. Only we can make ourselves do the right thing. And bar and bat mitzvah is the age to start doing that.
According to another midrash, Miriam was thirteen years old when she arranged for her infant brother Moses to be adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, thus ensuring his survival and the survival of the Jewish people.
Finally, the Talmud says that Bezalel was thirteen when he designed the ancient tabernacle for worship in the wilderness.
According to these Midrashim, how would you define the term Bar/Bat Mitzvah?